The use of single sheets provided as interfolded sheets for bath tissue has been widely accepted. Such single interfolded sheets often provide less waste than traditional rolled bath tissue. Similarly, the use of premoistened or “wet” sheets has gained wide acceptance for a variety of uses, particularly premoistened bathroom applications. The dry sheets and premoistened sheets are generally formed from an absorbent material such as a paper or a polymeric web, or combinations thereof, and may contain a disinfectant, medicant, deodorant, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, cleansing agent, and so forth, in one or more combinations, on a dry sheet, or in a “wet” formulation on a premoistened sheet. Premoistened sheets are generally stored and dispensed from a sealable container to prevent the sheets from drying out.
Various dispenser designs for dry and/or premoistened sheets have been used with existing bathroom fixtures, such as fixtures for conventional rolled products. These separate or combined dispensers are often cumbersome and bulky, and they are problematic with regard to space and mounting considerations. Refilling one or both dispensers can also be difficult.
In addition, in a hospital or medical setting, rolls of toilet tissue are frequently disposed of after a patient leaves a hospital room. This is because toilet tissue in a roll has every edge of every sheet exposed; if contamination via liquid and/or particulate matter occurs, it could be passed on to the next patient. Such disposal results in a significant waste.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a dispenser capable of dispensing dry and/or premoistened sheets, and so forth, from a table top. Such a dispenser would quickly and easily convert into a dispenser configured to couple to a conventional rolled product fixture and dispense sheets, such as toilet tissue, therefrom. Such a dispenser would also be desirable for use in a hospital room, where the outside of the dispenser may be easily cleaned and/or disinfected, and the dispenser acts to shield all but the exposed sheet extending therefrom. The dispenser would not need to be disposed of after a patient left, and only the exposed tissue would be removed to make the dispenser available for the next patient.